


Focaccia the Cat

by hardcracksugar



Category: Bon Appetite Test Kitchen RPF, Chef RPF
Genre: Actual Golden Retriever Brad Leone, Claire has a cat and I got inspired to write a fic, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, It takes a while to get to the cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 06:57:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20484746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardcracksugar/pseuds/hardcracksugar
Summary: Claire posted her cat on instagram yesterday and I, of course, had to write an entire fic about her cat. Brad Leone is an actual golden retriever and dogs and cats don't get along, hilarity ensues.





	Focaccia the Cat

**Author's Note:**

> This is RPF ya'll. Follow the RPF rules, be chill don't share.

Claire expected plenty of things to go wrong when she decided to start dating her coworker in secret. Because well really isn’t dating your coworker in secret sort of the definition of getting into trouble.

They didn’t technically have to keep it a secret, he wasn’t kitchen manager anymore and even if he was she was a freelancer now so there was no chain of command between them. But they didn’t want cameras or nosey coworkers influencing whatever ‘this’ might turn into.

‘This’ started on an all too rainy afternoon in June. Rainy might be an understatement, there was historic flash flooding throughout Manhattan leading to certain streets being deemed ‘unsafe’ for walking. Like certain streets, Claire lived on. When the notification came in, Claire decided that it was time to give up on today's failing attempts at Gourmet Cookie Butter and leave early before she had to swim home instead of walking. 

Brad had been the first to object. “If it’s unsafe you can’t go home, plain and simple, Saffitz.” 

Claire had mentioned the ‘unsafe’ conditions as she was saying goodbye, she didn’t expect anyone to try and stop her. “The PD just says that so you can’t sue if drown trying to get home, it’s a liability thing.” She shrugged. “Besides, what do you want me to do, sleep in the office tonight?” 

Claire saw a rare thing as Brad open his mouth wide like he was about to fire off one of his normally great ideas but instead he quickly shut his mouth again, squeezing his eyes shut and balling his fists at his sides before springing alive again. “I got it! I’ll walk you home, keep you safe and all that!”

Claire rolled her eyes, insisting several times that it was unnecessary but he was already grabbing his raincoat and following her into the elevator. The walk to the subway wasn’t so bad, especially not with Brad’s company as a distraction from the weather. She tried to insist that it was proof she didn’t need an escort the whole way, but Brad was too stubborn to listen. 

The walk from her subway stop to her apartment building was five blocks. Normally it made for a brief yet pleasant stroll. By the end of the first block, Claire’s shoes were so soaked through that with each step they made a gross sloshing sound as though they were made of wet dough that kept causing Brad and Claire to both dissolve into giggles every few steps. By the end of the third block, Claire’s umbrella was proving to be completely useless. Her tshirt and jeans were both soaked through to her bones and she was starting to shiver when Brad stopped and passed her his raincoat. Once again Claire attempted to protest that they didn’t both need to be soaked but he said he wouldn’t keep walking until she put it on and the last thing she wanted was either of them out in the rain a second longer than they had to. She felt like a kid playing dress-up with how huge it was on her but at least it was warm. An unintended consequence was the way Brad couldn’t stop staring at her with the softest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen and the way that made her stomach feel as though it was also experiencing historic thunderstorms.   
“I can’t leave the job half done, Claire. I’ve got to see to it that you get all the way home safely, otherwise what kind of guy would that make me?” He was following her into the elevator. The air between then had shifted, that slight crackle of electricity was accompanying that soft stare of his. 

“I don’t think anyone would say you need to walk me all the way to my door. Walking five blocks through severe flooding was enough.” She flashed him a grin, a silent thank you for making things less miserable. That seemed to be Brad’s specialty in her life. Taking a situation that would normally make her cry and proclaim defeat and instead making it bearable. 

“You deserve someone going the extra mile, Claire.” He shifts ever so slightly closer to her as the elevator travels upward. “I couldn’t let you be carried off by the waters, Saffitz. You’re the best us.”

Brad uses her surname as if that will make the complement less personal. Claire still finds her beaming at the praise. “Thank you, Brad.” She notices that his stare has moved, he’s no longer making eye contact. Instead, his gaze is lingering on her lips and Claire can’t stop herself from pushing up on her toes to kiss his cheek. 

Brad seems to have the same idea because before her lips can meet his cheek, he’s gripping her face softly and guiding her lips to meet his. The kissing starts off delicate and almost timid, neither one willing to break the kiss but both afraid to push their luck and ask for more. 

Claire breaks first, unable to stop herself winding an arm around his neck. That seems to be all the catalyst they need, the kiss deepening with Brad running his tongue softly against her bottom lip. They fail to notice when the doors open on her floor, instead only noticing when the doors close themselves. 

Claire pulls back giggling like a madwoman, biting her lip trying to contain it all as she tried to think what to say after making out with her coworker, soaking wet in an elevator. 

Brad finds words first. “See, it’s a good thing I walked you up.” He takes her hand in his and presses the door open button on the elevator behind her. She’s still a little speechless but she squeezes his hand. 

“We should probably talk about that.” Are the lackluster words she finally lands on, as she leads him around the corner and in front of her front door.

“I’d rather do more kissin’ but I guess some talking can come first.” Claire silently rolls her eyes as she unlocks the door. 

Just like every day, the first thing she hears as she unlocks the door is the metallic jingle of the bell on her cat’s collar as the cat races to greet her at the door. Unlike every other day since she had gotten the cat, the black and white tuxedo cat halted her journey just before reaching the pair in the doorway. The cat’s eyes darted around for a moment before settling in on Brad and letting out an angry hiss before hightailing it back from where she had come from. 

Brad was stunned to silence for a moment before he started cackling. “And that’s Focaccia. She’s normally very affection, I’ve never seen her be so rude before.” 

Brad was now laughing hard enough tears were forming in his eyes. “Of course, you have the meanest cat in the city and you name her after bread.” 

Claire tries to open her mouth to protest the slander of her beloved Focaccia but Brad’s lips are on her’s again.

Sometime later Claire pulls away, mumbling about talking. They end up sitting on the cold tile of her kitchen, still dripping wet from the storm outside, sipping beers and talking about how he’s been in love with her since the first time they made sourdough together. Claire occasionally sees a small black and white face peer around the corner, but every time the cat sees Brad she scampers off to hide again. 

________________________

Claire gets sick a few days after the storm. No one is surprised. She calls out of work, while eating soup for breakfast because she’s been up all night coughing. Most of the night she had also been texting Brad. Mostly whining about how miserable she felt, but also having to talk him out of coming all the way in from Jersey just to make her feel better. 

She’s curled up half asleep with Seinfeld playing softly and Focaccia at her side when there’s a knock on the door. Claire abandons her warm spot but keeps her fleece throw around her shoulders like a cape. She expects to see a lost delivery man or something equally annoying but instead, she finds Brad. 

“Claire! Good Morning!” Brad leans and kisses her forehead before she can whine about getting him sick. “You look like death but I brought something for that.” 

“What? A paper bag to hide me from the world?” Claire deadpans as she spins slowly to watch him where he’s angled past her into the apartment now.

Brad looks clearly offended by her self deprecating humor and is clearly about to fire off a reply of his own but instead becomes distracted by something behind her shoulder. “What’s wrong with your cat?” 

Claire looks and Focaccia’s peaking her head up over the back of the couch, teeth bared and eyes narrowed like she is hunting Brad. Again, she lets out a long hiss and bolts from the room.

________________________

The third time Brad comes to the apartment he comes prepared. He texts Claire a few hours before their date and asks what kind of table scraps Focaccia likes best. Claire answers, bewildered, asking who gives a cat table scraps. 

“Now watch this, Claire.” Brad had shown up in a suit, greeting her with a bouquet of Orange blossoms and Lillies before kneeling on the ground. There is a brief moment where Claire is both deeply confused and on the verge of a heart attack when he starts calling for her cat.

“What the hell?” Focaccia had never disliked anyone before but Claire wasn’t superstitious enough to pay much mind to her cat's apparent fear of her new boyfriend. 

“I’m gonna earn her trust see.” He produces a small palm full of deli ham from the pocket of his suit and sure enough, the smell does lure the kitty out from her hiding spot. 

All does not go according to plan, of course. Instead, Focaccia sniffs Brad’s ham for a moment before lunging and leaving three long scratches across the back of Brad’s hand. 

“YEE-OWH-ZA-AH-AH!” Brad exclaims, dropping the ham and darting up to his full height again. Claire rushes over, admonishing the cat and investigating the shallow scratches in her date. In the commotion, Focaccia has already made off like a bandit, with her ham. 

Hunzi and Matt have a field day animating things around the scratches in the next episode of It’s Alive. The kitchen staff becomes obsessed with guessing outlandish tales of what scratched Brad since he refuses to say. Claire shoots him sly, knowing smiles when she thinks no one will see. They immediately notice. Molly starts a betting pool for how long until they actually tell anyone they're dating. 

Focaccia and Brad continue to have a strained relationship, despite their mutual love of Claire. Brad occasionally says passive-aggressive comments into the open air of the apartment about how it might be nice if Claire got a dog. Focaccia is openly aggressive in her hissing and fleeing of whatever room Brad is in. Claire finds the entire situation to be hilarious. 

__________________________________

Eighteen months later Brad proposes on New Years Day. Claire wakes up groggy and hungover from too much champagne the next morning. She is shocked to see for the first time ever Focaccia is curled up on the bed, having made a spot for herself between Claire and Brad.


End file.
